For a second time this year,
location-sensitive electronics
have got lost, playing tricks on
the rider by delivering the wrong
kind of power and response at
the wrong part of the circuit.
Horsepower and throttle-
response maps are manually
tailored to each circuit corner by
corner, but with GPS banned they
have to be triggered by some
marker on the track. Miss the
marker and the whole thing goes
awry.
In Portugal, Nicky Hayden’s
Ducati got lost in the race after it
read an under-track cable on the
back straight as the start-finish line.
He finished a ner ve-wracked 11th
after coping with full-bore power in
the slow chicane, and the opposite
on the long straight.
The victim this time was
Jorge Lorenzo, out at the end of
qualifying to try to reclaim pole
position from Dani Pedrosa.
His Yamaha had been fooled
when he took advantage of the
chance of a short lap – cutting back
into the pits without undertaking
the track’s second loop, in order
to escape from a group of riders
to get some clear track. Had he
pressed the reset button it would
have been okay.
Instead, on a lap where he had
already set fastest sector times
earlier on, “the power was coming
down at every corner ... only 50
percent on the last one,” he said.
He abandoned the lap, pulling
into the pits and banging the tank
angrily. There was no more time to
try again.
LORENZO SHORT-CUT
BEATS THE SYSTEM
at
»
Mugello echoed with tributes
to the late Marco Simoncelli – including
the gift of two Hondas: his MotoGP
RC211V given to his family, and a tribute-
livery CBR1000RR to be auctioned by
the charitable Simoncelli Foundation,
supporting care homes for the aged.
»
Fast French Moto2 rookie
Johann Zarco was hit with a 15-place
grid penalty after a headstrong move in
Saturday morning’s free practice skittled
title contender Pol Espargaro. Zarco
outbraked three riders into the first corner
and lost control, hitting the Spaniard, who
was stretchered off with foot injuries.
Zarco went on to qualify third fastest, so
he started from 18th; Espargaro bounced
back to take pole and second in the race.
“In a race you might understand it, but in
free practice it was too much. He has a
bit of a history,” said race director Mike
Webb Zarco accepted the punishment
without protest.
»
Mahindra replacement
Moto3 rider Riccardo Moretti had an
embarrassing start, after replacing the
departed Marcel Schrotter. At the start
line he tried to press the button operating
the start-off software ... but hit the pit-lane
speed limiter by mistake. After an ultra-
slow first half-lap, he retired.
Quadruple podium success for Byrne and
Farmer at Oulton. Both PBM team riders did
their championship chances no harm in a dramatic
BSB round at Oulton Park...
silkolene.com
BRIEFLY
MOTOGP >>> NEWS
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